Sonic Mutiny

Sound designer, composer & theatre-maker with an interest in installation, site-specific & immersive experiences. Part of Up Next Festival 2024 @unitytheatre

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

It has been great fun making lots of amazing set & props, with help from @altscaletheatre & @bridgeinnfarm, for a brand new children’s show at 3pm on 28th May @unitytheatre https://t.co/6DWzkcHQnC

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

A brand new children’s show is coming to Unity Theatre, Liverpool, this half term. Book your tickets for Pat the Painting Pig, 3pm, 28th May 🐷🫟🎨 https://t.co/6DWzkcHQnC

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Gutted at this and GAK shutting down earlier this year too. Got loads of stuff from both. Nothing beats being able to go into a store and actually try something - almost nowhere left to do this now

[Namracka @namracka]

PMT permanently closing all stores

PMT Music (officially S&T Audio Ltd), once the UK’s 4th‑largest brick‑and‑mortar and online musical instrument retailer, went into administration on 11 June 2025 and ceased trading immediately, closing all 11 stores and its Liverpool warehouse

Why PMT failed

•Shrinking profit margins
•Rising rents, business rates, energy, and employer taxes squeezed profits
•Heavy discount-driven competition online further ate into margins
•Weak consumer demand
•Economic pressures dampened spending on instruments
•Online marketplaces became dominant, luring shoppers with lower prices
•Poor stock & price management
•Inconsistent stock control; oversold items caused long delays—and refunds or cancellations
•PMT attempted to keep up with dynamic online pricing, often matching competitors and eroding profits
•Failed turnaround efforts
•Despite efforts to restructure, refinance, or sell parts of the business, no buyer emerged, leading to administration

What happened next
•Administrators made 96 staff redundant, while 48 were kept on to handle the shutdown
•Gear4Music purchased PMT’s remaining stock, trademarks, website, and data for around £3.6 million ($3.3 million)
•Gear4Music confirmed that they will not be taking on PMT’s retail operations or its liabilities

Industry insights & community reactions

Reddit users traced the broader causes of PMT’s demise:

“People shopping online generally… choosing 2nd hand because the cost of living is so high… the number of young people picking up instruments is way down” .

“They’d have a tracker that would update both online and store pricing dynamically… if G4M, Amazon or someone else dropped their price, they’d match it and eat the loss”

Another user recalled poor inventory experience:

“On 3 separate occasions items showed in stock online … I had to wait … 5 months… I just cancelled the order and had the same guitar delivered from Thomann in under 48 hours”

Broader context
•PMT’s collapse follows a troubling trend of traditional music retailers shutting doors: GAK in the UK earlier this year, Bax Music in Europe, and Sam Ash in the US
•Services like in-store advice, instrument demos, and hands-on trial used to be PMT’s strength—but could not offset their financial challenges

https://t.co/qoelUJyTBn

https://t.co/P8Z6LfP2f4

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Hotdesking @unitytheatre 💻 Mondays 10am - 5pm 👍 It’s nice and cool in here today despite it being the hottest day of the year so far ☀️🥵

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Launch successful! Thanks to everyone who came to @unitytheatre for #EarthIsLost It was great to finally share this with an audience and I can’t wait to develop it from here. 🚀 #Sound #Installation #NationalSpaceDay #AI #Humanity #Technology #environment #Future #UpNextFestvial

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

@emollick Ooh! That looks like the perfect amount of orange 🤩

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Thanks @EliRandle it was great to have the support of @unitytheatre and to be part of #UpNextFestival, developing new work 🚀✨

[Elinor Randle @EliRandle]

Big well done to @SonicMutiny for Earth is Lost… a deep dive into space & AI & using the theatre space so well & differently! @unitytheatre #UpNextFestival

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Full Moon one week out from debut of work-in-progress show Earth Is Lost. 🌍🌕🚀

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Happy #EarthDay2024! Why not celebrate your love for our planet by getting a ticket for #EarthIsLost https://t.co/a3VDgq5Vk7 on 1st May @unitytheatre A show that really puts our connection with Earth into perspective. #Sound #Installation #Experience #Theatre #AI #Future #Earth

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

9 years here! Started as PopularDemandArts on a platform called Twitter and now I’m SonicMutiny and the platform is called X #change #MyXAnniversary #9years #EarthDay2024

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

It's surprising how few creatives are thinking about this.
#AI #voiceacting #sounddesign #ethics #performance #EarthIsLost #SoundInstalltion #UnityTheatre #Liverpool

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

I've been working on an agreement for the voice actors in my current project, regarding how their voices will be used for the installation and beyond. It feels important to write into the agreement that I will not synthesize their voices - not that I had planned to but because…

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

https://t.co/HZRM8eIVhm (and part 2) are a good place to start if you're thinking about this stuff. Although my takeaway from part 2 is that there's a whole world of legal chaos ahead. No surprise to anyone who follows developments in tech but...

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Stunning timelapse of Earth rising over the Moon captured by lunar orbiter spacecraft Kaguya.

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

It’s the final 24 hours of the Crowdfunder for Earth Is Lost! It has reached an amazing 82% so far 🎉 I’d love to hit the target so, if you’ve not donated, please check out the link and consider supporting. Thanks 🚀 https://t.co/0PCE30HaLq #Earth #space #sound #experience #AI

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

@EliRandle @unitytheatre Congratulations Eli! Such brilliant news. ❤️

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Absolutely cannot wait for this. ❤️

[Unity Theatre 🧡 @unitytheatre]

ON SALE NOW: KRAPP'S LAST TAPE 🍌

Graeme Phillips, MBE returns to Unity with Krapp's Last Tape📼

10th & 11th May 2024 | 🎟️ On Sale Via Our Website

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Delighted that the Earth Is Lost Crowdfunder campaign has nearly reached 70%! The campaign closes in 2 weeks so there's still time to help this project truly take off! 🚀 https://t.co/0PCE30HaLq #art #sounddesign #voiceacting #theatre #AI #space #unitytheatre

[Sonic Mutiny @SonicMutiny]

Looking forward to this!

[Serpentine @SerpentineUK]

Join us live on 19 March 7pm GMT for the launch of FAE4 live on Twitch with Serpentine’s @VivLaNova, @eva33313 & Alasdair Milne.

https://t.co/KLj36yMCAv